This is managing editor Ryan Hoffman coming to you at the end of a week that, personally, felt as unending as the prairie sky. The FFP team kicked it into overdrive this week, producing insightful journalism and launching a large, civic-minded project meant to inform Nebraska voters this election season.
Speaking of elections, you’ve probably heard by now that there’s a native Nebraskan on one of the presidential tickets. Kamala Harris’ selection of Tim Walz to be her VP spurred a media stampede to the Greater Nebraska communities where Walz grew up and spent his early adulthood. It produced a torrent of biographical tales on this suddenly prominent figure.
Today we bring you a lesser told story. It’s the story of how Walz, then a high school geography teacher, led 48 fellow Nebraskans on an audacious trip to China in 1994. It’s about the lasting impact the experience had on those folks. And it’s a portrait of a different time. Walz’s neighbors in Alliance didn’t care about his personal politics — if they did, they wouldn’t have trusted him to lead them halfway around the world. Fast forward 30 years, politics is enough to put some families on non-speaking terms.
It’s a fascinating story full of colorful anecdotes (see the photo of fans at Memorial Stadium).
Oh, and did I mention that the story is by Dirk Chatelain? Makes up for being stuck with this newsletter-writing scrub for the past two weeks, doesn’t it?
Nebraska Evolving: About a year ago, senior reporter Natalia Alamdari had a thought, a question really: Who is selling quinceañera dresses in Nebraska? Turns out there’s more than a few folks selling those glamorous dresses, along with a whole network of ancillary businesses that aim to make this tradition as special as possible.
That trend is really a reflection of the state’s changing demographics. Nebraska’s Latino population has exploded in recent decades, and that boom is increasingly fueled by native births, rather than immigration.
Natalia pulls back the curtain on this cultural milestone and weaves it together with the story of Nebraska’s evolution. And to help illustrate it all, FFP intern Naomi Delkamiller captured some beautiful, authentically human moments.
Ready, set, vote: Mail-in ballots officially went out this week, and some go-getters have already returned their ballots.
It ain’t always easy. Filling out a ballot can feel like cramming for a college exam with a textbook missing entire chapters (damn dog). Historically, news outlets provided that information, and many still do (I rely on the Journal Star for area races). But that’s become increasingly challenging because the work remains EXTREMELY time consuming. You have to come up with questions, hound candidates for answers, hound them some more, then package it all so that it makes sense. It’s an information gap that the FFP team thought we could help at least partially fill.
Earlier this week we launched our first-ever voter guide. You’ll find information on candidates in all the races for Legislature, NU Board of Regents and State Board of Education, along with primers on what those folks do. You’ll find info on judges up for retention. And you’ll find short videos explaining the measures on this year’s ballot. And to make it all easy, you can search by address to find your races.
It’s all available thanks to the tireless work of data journalist Libby Seline, who pretty much made this whole thing happen; government watchdog reporter Sara Gentzler, who made sense of the ballot measures; and Hanscom Park Studio, which designed and created this incredibly user-friendly website, voterguide.flatwaterfreepress.org.
Hometown slugger: When writer Greg Echlin called to tell me about all these Philadelphia Phillies jerseys that he spotted at a Kansas City Royals game, I was largely indifferent. Big whoop. Then he explained that most of those jerseys carried a single name, and that name belonged to a young man who grew up in Omaha.
Turns out Alec Bohm, a Roncalli Catholic High School grad, is winning over quite a few fans with his performance on the field, and his charitable efforts off of it. Regardless of whether you’re a baseball fan, you have to admire this dude and his story.
Questions wanted: Some of our best story ideas come from readers, and they typically start with a burning question that just cries out for an answer. Have a question that our reporters need to look into? Complete this form or reach our newsroom at [email protected].
Thanks for reading,
—Ryan Hoffman, managing editor
Here’s what we’re into this week: News from around Nebraska
Every week we like to share great Nebraska journalism, no matter who made it. Here’s what caught our eye this week:
- All four members of the Cherry County GOP Board have resigned, saying they faced pressure to endorse a specific candidate in the area’s Republican-vs-Republican contest for the Legislature. Casey Wonnenberg at News Channel Nebraska has the story.
- Officials earlier this week released the autopsy of a 17-year-old who was found dead in April at a Pillen Family Farms property. Investigators couldn’t determine an exact cause of death, but the report revealed new details, reports Alex Vargas at the Lincoln Journal Star. (Readers may need a subscription for this story).
- File this under “I had no idea”: Nebraska counties can draft residents — like jury duty — to serve as poll workers on Election Day. Nebraska Public Media’s Kassidy Arena making us all smarter with a story that aired on this morning’s national broadcast.
- Breaking news this morning: NU Regents cleared the way for alcohol sales at Husker football and volleyball games, the Journal Star’s Chris Dunker reports. (Readers may need a subscription for this story).
- A Nebraska grain co-op says it plans to challenge proposed penalties exceeding half a million dollars after federal investigators found “life-threatening hazards” at one of its elevators, reports Maunette Loeks at the Scottsbluff Star-Herald. (Readers may need a subscription for this story).
- Residents in Ogallala have strong feelings about a proposal to build a casino there. They packed a planning commission meeting to voice their concerns … even though the commission wasn’t actually considering a casino proposal. KNOP’s Tristen Winder and Ashanti Allen report that tensions escalated to the point that the planning and zoning administrator said “I’m out” and left the meeting.
- Kris Kristofferson, the brilliant songwriter and genuine renaissance man, died earlier this week at 88. The Journal Star’s L. Kent Wolgamott shared some stories from his time spent with Kristofferson, including during the roughly two months he lived in Lincoln while filming a miniseries.
- And finally, a feel-good story to wrap things up. Actually this doesn’t make me feel good at all — it makes me feel lazy … ‘cause some seasoned softball players (and by seasoned I mean in their 80s) are still out there getting after it. Nebraska Public Media’s Aaron Bonderson with a lovely story about never growing old.
